Back to the North Wood: More tragedy for Bessie Truax

As mentioned in the last column, back in the early 1900s, when Bessie Rue married Earl Penwood Truax, she had no idea what life had in store for her. Earl and Bessie settled onto a farm about six miles northwest of Marshfield and on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 1914, the unthinkable happened.

Heading out to do chores, the couple left 4-year-old Lester in charge of two younger babies and the house caught fire. Although Earl pulled Lester out, all three children succumbed.

The heartbroken couple soon went about having six more children, son Leslie followed by Alan, Etta, Darrell, Constance and Palmer, the youngest being born in 1929.

When the youngest, Palmer, was only 8, the Marshfield Times reported that on May 2, 1937, as Earl was walking home from Marshfield, a North Western train struck him and he lay, unconscious from a skull fracture, in a ditch near the right-of-way for seven hours before being found and hospitalized. It was decided he tried to take a shortcut across the tracks and was hit and thrown down an embankment. He died five days later at age 49.

Bessie went on to marry twice more, first to a McConnel and then a Velte. I have no clue if she thought often about the tragedies that befell her, but you never forget.

When Bessie was 66, now having grandchildren to dote upon, tragedy struck again, this time with an added sense of deja vu.

On Tuesday, Dec. 13, 1960, the Kenosha Evening News covered the story on the front page, complete with photos.

Bessie’s, son Darrell, now 37, was off working the night shift at AMC, when his wife Viola settled their eight children down for the night. Just before 1 a.m., Viola was awakened to screams of her children and rose to find baby Jeanette’s room in total flames, and the rest of the eight-room housing unit, also blazing. Trying to reach her children, she was not successful for the most part.

Neighbors called the fire department and then Darrell, who rushed home to find firefighters carrying out the dead bodies of two children, Jeanette, eight weeks, and Barbara, 11.

Two days later, Earl, 14, named after his grandfather, died. Not long after, Evelyn, 5, died as well, all having suffered from massive burns and smoke inhalation.

Eventually, the cause of fire was determined to be an overloaded extension cord. The cord used to run a 1,200-watt deep fryer filled with water and being used as a vaporizer in the baby’s room, overheated and ignited the curtains right over the baby’s crib. The cord was rated for light fixtures only.

How it must have torn out the heart of Bessie, reviving her own nightmarish loss of three children, to see another tragic fire now claim four of her precious grandchildren.

Bessie, who had been born in 1894, died Christmas Day, 1984, at age 90, and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery, next to her husband Earl.

Rhonda Whetstone is a columnist for News-Herald Media, Stevens Point Journal Media and Daily Tribune Media. Rhonda’s Twitter ID is TribRendezvous if you wish to follow her musings there. You also can get previews of upcoming columns by clicking “Like” on Back to the North Wood on Facebook. If you have story ideas of a historical nature, email her at Rhonda.Whetstone@gmail.com.